Lenawee gains jobs, but jobless rate goes up

Saturday

Apr 5, 2014 at 2:00 PM

By Daily Telegram staff

More people started looking for jobs than found them in February, causing Lenawee County’s jobless rate to go up despite 500 more workers being counted as employed, according to figures released Thursday by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget.

Lenawee County’s jobless rate bounced up from January’s 8 percent to February’s 8.4 percent. The number of employed workers rose to an estimated 41,064, up 500 from January and 225 better than February 2013.

The jobless rate also rose in all neighboring Michigan counties except Monroe, where it dropped to 7.6 percent, 16th lowest among the 83 counties. Washtenaw County continued to have the lowest jobless rate in Michigan at 5.3 percent.

Most areas in the state saw jobless rates go up in February due to seasonal job reductions, said Jason Palmer, director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information & Strategic Initiatives.

“Throughout the state, payroll job totals in the winter are typically at their lowest levels of the year in a number of industry sectors including construction, trade, transportation and utilities, and leisure and hospitality services.”

Since February 2013, he said, unemployment rates fell in all 17 major regions. Declines ranged from 0.3 to 1.5 percentage points with a median rate reduction of 0.9 percent. Lenawee County’s jobless rate was down 1 percent from a year ago.

Unemployment rates rose seasonally in 10 of the 12 counties in the Southwest Michigan region that includes Lenawee County as a result of more individuals entering the job market looking for employment, said regional analyst Leonidas Murembya. The Benton Harbor and Jackson metropolitan statistical areas also recorded job gains in manufacturing during the month of February.

The labor force rose in all 12 counties, from 175 in St. Joseph to 2,325 in Kalamazoo County, he said. It rose by 711 in Lenawee County and 900 in Jackson County.

Job gains for February ranged from 150 in Cass County to 1,575 in Kalamazoo County. Over the year, job gains were recorded in all 12 counties, including Lenawee County’s increase of 225.